By NNN-PTI,
Mumbai : Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani gunman facing trial in the Mumbai terror attack, Wednesday pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him including waging war against India which attracts death penalty.
“Yeh sab galat hai, mujhe kabool nahin hai” (these charges are wrong, not acceptable to me), Kasab said in his plea, adding he wanted to face the trial after a special court framed a string of charges against him.
Kasab’s two co-accused –Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed–also pleaded not guilty to the charges and said they too would like to face trial. Kasab was one of the 10 suspected LeT operatives behind the three-day carnage.
Kasab would be tried for the murder of 166 persons who fell to the bullets in the strike on Nov 26 last. Although he killed 72 persons, he will be tried for all the murders as the court framed conspiracy charges against him.
Judge M L Tahaliyani explained all the 86 charges framed against the accused in Hindi, laced with Urdu words such as Sajish (conspiracy), Aarop (accusation) and Jung(war).
The charges include waging war against nation, murder, attempt to murder, conspiracy, damaging railway property, entering India without valid passport, carrying arms and RDX, planting bombs and firing at various places in Mumbai.
All the accused were asked to stand up in the dock and hear the charges.
When Kasab who looked relaxed was asked his age, he promptly replied 21. Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam immediately said “the cat is out of the bag” in the context of the defence plea that he was only 18 and a juvenile which would have meant lighter penalties.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said he saluted the patriotic spirit of Muslim body Islam Gymkhana for deciding to terminate the services of Abbas Kazmi as its trustee for defending Mumbai attacks terrorist Ajmal Kasab.
“Accepting Kasab’s brief is like being the devil’s advocate and is against the tenets of Islam. We call such Islam a national religion and salute it,” Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.
“If all Muslims behave and live in this manner, no quarrel remains,” he said, commenting on the Gymkhana’s decision to terminate Kazmi’s appointment as a trustee for “agreeing to defend the most dreaded terrorist”.
Ridiculing Kasab’s wish that he wants to move around in jail for a breath of fresh air, Thackeray said “those killed by Kasab also wanted to inhale fresh air. The people he killed were Hindus and poor Muslims.” Islam Gymkhana has set an ideal and has displayed nationalism, he said.
Had the Muslim community gone that way earlier, the picture of India would have been different, he said.
“In this country, Hindus do not have the protection of those in power that Muslims enjoy,” the Sena chief said.